The city of Baltimore erupted with a joyous chorus of honking, whistles and cheers on Friday immediately after prosecutors announced murder and other criminal charges against six police officers in the killing of Freddie Gray.
The exaltation was a dramatic reversal from the rioting earlier this week over Gray’s death while in police custody.
Activists and protesters applauded and cheered as Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby announced the charges at an outdoor gathering with journalists and the public.
Vehicles could be heard honking as they drove through the streets of Baltimore.
The city seemed to hold its breath waiting for the prosecutor’s announcement, wondering whether another round of violence in the street was imminent.
By all indications, the city seemed to be satisfied with the prosecutor’s statement.
‘A new day in our city’
“We were very nervous Wednesday night and we were afraid it was going to be bad today,” the Rev. Walter Scott Thomas of New Faith Psalmist Baptist Church, one of the city’s largest houses of worship, said Friday.
But Scott was pleased to find Baltimore jubilant over the prosecutor’s announcement.
“Did we expect something this monumental? No,” Scott said. “But are we excited about it? Absolutely.”
U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, said he was surprised that the prosecutors announced charges on Friday, indicating it was a speedy decision.
“It is a new day in our city,” Cummings said. “Let the wheels of justice begin to roll.”
“We did witness history in one respect, and it’s so often these things happen and nothing happens,” Cummings added, referring to the occurrence of police-involved killings with no subsequent prosecutions.
One civil rights attorney was stunned that the prosecutor announced charges so quickly.
“I was surprised at the speed,” attorney A. Dwight Pettit said.
Baltimore City Council member Brandon Scott said protesters will occupy a corner of the city Friday night, but he said that all of his gatherings are peaceful.
Obama: ‘Justice needs to be served’
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama pledged his administration and the U.S. Justice Department will assist Baltimore officials in their investigation. He also expressed approval with Friday’s “thoughtful, constructive, peaceful protests.”
“It’s absolutely vital that the truth comes out on what happened to Mr. Freddie Gray,” Obama told reporters. “I can tell you that justice needs to be served. All the evidence needs to be presented. Those individuals charged are also entitled to due process and the rule of law.
“This administration will help local officials get to the bottom of exactly what happened,” the president added.
Deep community issues remain
Back in Baltimore, one of the city’s flashpoints for earlier protests was North and Pennsylvania avenues, and on Friday, residents lined the side of street to cheer on honking cars.
As celebratory as Baltimore largely was on Friday, some protesters acknowledged that the black community continues to face broader and deeper issues, including the ongoing national controversies over police-involved killings of black suspects.
“Take a look around,” one man in an impoverished black neighborhood told CNN. “Would you be satisfied with this if this was your community?”
Congressman Cummings acknowledged such issues in his public remarks in Baltimore, his hometown and current city of residence.
“I don’t want anybody to be confused that the issue of police and community is one part of a broader set of issues,” Cummings said. “Our children need to be properly educated. They need to be trained so that they can get jobs and be functional.”
Elsewhere in the United States, more than 100 protesters gathered in Oakland, California, for a May Day event, and by all appearances, they expressed peaceful satisfaction with the Baltimore prosecutor’s announcement.